Motor vehicle



J ly 2 943. F. R. MOFARLAND MOTOR VEHICLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July29, 1942 INVENTOR. ag ozastij/f zalazzd W' M July 20, 1943.

F. R. M FARLAND MOTOR VEHICLE Filed July 29, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR. fivesfiU/FirZ/azzd @zivcngbi v a. torque Patented July; '2

V v v oron v mc'LE Forest 8.. McFarland, Huntington Woods, Mich,-aassignor to Packard Motor'Car Company; De troit, Mich. a corporationof -Michigan f Application July 29, 1942, snnudiszjfior This inventionrelates to variable mechanism of the type including a fluid torqueconverter and epicyclic gearing. V An object of the invention is toprovide. a drivemechanism in which a torque converter and a pair ofcompounded epicyclic gear trains can "be controlled to drive in aplurality of, forward speeds.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drive mechanism vinwhich an efllcient direct drive is obtainedfrom a torque converterwithout clutching the reaction member to the driving member. a

Another objectof the invention is to provide converter-epicyclic gearingdrive mechanism with which full engine torque will be delivered throughthe torque converter in lower driving speeds and a portion of the enginetorque will be delivered through verter in direct drive.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the followingdescription taken in connection withthe drawings, which form a part ofthis specification, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through drive mechanismincorporating the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken approximately on line 2-2 of Fig. 1showing one of the brake control devices;

Fig. '3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional .view corresponding to theforward. end of the structure shown in Fig.1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view corresponding to therear end of the structure shown in Fig. 1 v

. Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the section lines A-A, BB, C0 andDD in Fig. 4.

Referring now .to' the drawings by characters of reference, drive shafti0 is the input member and can be connected with a suitable source ofpower, such as an engine (not shown). Tail shaft II is the output memberand can be connected with a device to be driven, such as wheels of amotor vehicle (not shown). A driven shaft I2 is arranged between and inalignment with the drive shaft and the tail shaft, the forward end ofshaft l2 projecting into a recess in the drive shaft and being carriedtherein by bearing l3 and the rear end of shaft i2 projecting into arecess in the tail shaft and being carried by hearing I mounted therein.

Reverse drive and plural forwardspeed drives are obtained through ahydraulic torque conthe torque conof the driven shaft and a reaction 10Claims. (emu-189.5)

speed drive The torque converter can beof ,conventionallde-f sign andconsists of an impeller member li fixed to the drive shaft by bolts 11,a driven member I8 having a hub i9 splined to the forward e'nd member 20havingahub 2|. I n Forward speed drive is obtained through .a

pair of compounded planetary gear trainer Sleeve 22 is splined ontherear end of the driven shaft and has two spaced sun gears 23,, 24.formed thereon. Pinionsli of the forw'ardgear train mesh with sun gear.23 and pinions 26 of the rear gear train mesh with sun gear2l. Ringgear 21 is fixed to drum 23' and meshes with pinions 25, and ring gear29 meshes with pinions 26. The drum rotation is controlledby brake band21 I. The pinions 26 are mounted to rotate on pins 30 supported on acarrier 3|, which can supported oncarrier 33. The gear trains arecompounded by fixing the carrier 33 to ring gear 29 through means ofasplined connection 34..

Carrier 33 has a forwardly extending abutment sleeve 35 supported onhearing 36 on the driven shaft. A hub 31 is splined on the forward endof the sleeve in coaxial relation with hub 2| of the torque converterreaction member and between such'liubs is arranged rollers 38. One ofthe hubs has circularly disposed bearing surfaces for the rollers whilethe other hub has angularly disposed bearing surfaces so that-a one-waydriving connection or coupling can be automatically established betweenthe hubs by the rollers. This one-way coupling serves to establish aconnection by means of which the reaction member can be held stationaryor released.

Carrier 33 has anabutment, drum 39 fixed thereto by bolts 40 and brakeband 4| is anchored at 94 to casing l5 and encircles the drum. The

brake band when clamped on the-drum will hold.

. and such housing consists of two sections secured together by bolts42. A sleeve 43 extends; around r a portionof sleeve 35 and projectsinto the drum.

verter and compounded eplcyclic gear trains splined to sleeve 43, withinthe drum; is a peripherally splined hub 4'4. Clutch plates 45alternately engage the drum bolts "and hub. splines sether.

the torque converter.

' and SI therein. Sleeves 35, 43 and shaft l2 extend through a journalbearing 52 formed by wall II and a seal 53 is arranged between the walland sleeve 4. The drum 3! has a forwardly projecting sleeve 54 mountedin bearing 52 and is formed with angularly extending passages 55 leadingto a plurality of similar cylinders 58 in the forward end of such drum.Fluid under pressure can pass through conduit 58 in the casing topassages 55 and into the drum cylinders for actuating pistons 51 topress an actuator plate 53 in clutch engaging direction. The actuatorplate has a ring boss 60 on one face engaging an end clutch plate andbosses 6| on the other face contacting the pistons. The actuator plateis normally urged to disengaging position by a plurality of coil springs32.

Reverse drive is obtained through a third planetary gear traincompounded withthe forward drive gear trains. A sun gear 10 has pinionsII meshing therewith and these pinions are mounted on pins 12 supportedon carrier l3. The pinions mesh with ring gear 14 fixed to drum l androtation of the drum is controlled by. brake band It. The carrier issplined on the tail shaft and the sun gear is provided with a sleeveextension 11 having a flanged forward end 18 flxed to rotate with ringgear 29. The sleeve extension is supported in a journal bearing 13 onwall 5|.

The brake bands can be operated by similar mechanisms responsive tofluid pressure controlled by suitable valving controlled to operate asdesired. The fluid pressure can be provided by a pump consisting ofgears 80 and 3| contained in a housing 82 in the casing and such pumpcan also be utilized for maintaining pressure in the torque converter.Gear 30 1s keyed to sleeve 43 that is driven directly from the driveshaft through the impeller member of the torque converter. Suitablefluid passages in the casing lead from the pump to cylinders 30-, 3| and92 in the casing and in such cylinders are arranged pistons, asindicated by numeral 93, connected to and operable to actuate the threebrake bands which are anchored in the casing as indicated When brakesl6, 2" and ti are released and the clutch plates 45 are disengaged, thedrive mechanism will be in neutral and no drive will be transmitted tothe tail shaft. In all forward speeds, the reverse brake I8 is releasedso that the reverse gear train will-idle. To place the drive mechanismin starting forward speed relotion, brake 2" is released, brake 4| isapplied and the clutch plates 45 are released. As drum 39 is attached tocarrier 33 and sleeve 35, they will be held stationary by brake 4| andring gear 25 fixed to carrier 33 will be held stationary. The reactionmember will be held from reverse rotation because it is coupled tosleeve 35 and the reaction will be taken by the casing through brake 4|.The drive will pass from the torque converter driven member to shaft l2to rotate sun gears 23 and 24. Brake 2', being released, allows theforward gear train to idle and ring gear 29, held stationary by carrier33, will cause pinions 23 to carry the carrier 3| therewithrotate sungears 25 and 23.

he carrier 3| for pinions 26 wil1 thus be rotated and, as the carrier isa part of the tail shaft, the

drive will pass to such shaft. The drive reduction through the converteris initially approximately 1.5 to 1, butapproaches 1 to 1 as the torquedemanded decreases.

when second speed forward drive through the gearing is desired, brake IIis released, the

plate clutch is disengaged and brake 2'" is applied so that drum 23 andring gear 21, fixed to the drum, will-be held stationary. The drive willpass from the torque converter driven member to shaft l2 and to the sungear sleeve 22 fixed to such shaft. As ring gear 21 is held stationary,pinion carrier 33 is driven forwardly by pinions 25 at a reduced speedfrom sun gear 23 and will drive the reaction memberforwardly therewith.Reaction of the reaction member is taken by planet gear carrier 33 andis taken by casing l5 through the ringgear 21, drum 23 and brake 2H.Rlnggear '29 is driven forwardly by carrier 33 and pinions 26 are drivenforwardly by the ring gear and sun gear 24. These two speeds combine torotate carrier 3| at a higher speed than is developed in starting speedgear relation.

When third speed forward or direct drive is desired, brakes 4| and 2'"are released and clutch plates 45 are engaged. The abutment sleeve 35will be held with sleeve 43 through engagement of the clutch plates tochange the torque converter into a fluid coupling. the abutment sleevebeing. held with the converter reaction member through the one-waycoupling. Drive will be from the driven member of the fluid coupling toshaft :2 which will As gear 23 and pinions 25 are driven through clutchengagement at the same speed as the sun gears are rotated by shaft l2,the tail shaft will be driven at engine speed except for slippage in thefluid coupling. The reaction is taken by the clutch.

To obtain reverse drive, brakes ll and 2'" are released, the plateclutch is disengaged and brake 16 is applied to drum IS. -The drive willbe from the converter driven member and shaft I2 to sun gear sleeve '22.The reaction member is free to be driven reversely and through. theone-way drive connection with sleeves 35 will operate carrier 33 andring gear 23 therewith. Reaction from sleeve 22 through planetarypinions 26 will drive them reversely as the integral carrier and tailshaft are. stationary to start with. Sleeve 22 also tends to drive thetail shaft forwardly through pinions 26. Sun gear ll drives pinionsthrough reaction on gear H, which is held stationary, in reverse atreduced speed. Due to torque coming from pinions H in reverse drivebeing greater than torque on shaft H in forward direction, shaft II willbe driven reversely at reduced speed.

As previously stated, any suitable means can be provided for controllingthe fluid pressure for applying the brakes and engaging the plateclutch. It will be seenthat the abutment of the converter reactionmember reacts against the transmission case in starting speed, againstthe pinion carrier of the forward gear train in second speed, and islocked to the driven shaft in direct drive. The three forward speedsdescribed are actually second, third and fourth speeds due to the torqueconverter action. This arrangement of gearing avoids clutching of thereaction member to the driving member in the torque converter to obtainan eflicient direct or-third speed provides, in eflectra fluid couplingdrive and in second speed alters the char- V V 9,884,718 drive. Thearrangement. whenin-direct drive acteristics of the torque convertertoward that of a fluid coupling, The torque converter has connectionwith a specific embodiment, the

principles involved are susceptible .of numerous other applicationswhich will readily occur to persons skilled in the art; The invention istherefore to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1, Variable speed drive mechanism comprising a drive shaft; a tailshaft;,a'.driven shaft intermediate the drive shaft and the tail'shaft;a fluid torque converter having an impeller fixed to the drive shaft, adriven member fixed to the driven shaft and a reaction member; a re-,action sleeve; one-way driving means for connecting the reaction sleevewith the reaction member; an epicyclic gear train having a pinioncarrier fixed to the abutment sleeve, a sun gear fixed to the drivenshaft, a ring gear and pinions engaging the sun and ring gears; a drumfixed to the carrier; anchored brake means operable to engage and holdthe drum; a drive sleeve connected. to rotate with the converterimpellermember; clutch means operable'to connect the drum with the drivesleeve rotating with the impeller member; a drum to which the ring gearis fixed; anchored brake means operable to engage and hold the ring gearcarrying drum; a secondepicyclic gear train having a sun gear fixed tothe driven shaft, a pinion carrier fixed to the tail shaft, a ringgearfixed to the first mentioned carrier, and pinions engaging the ringgear and sun gear in the second gear train.

2. A variable speed drive mechanism comprising a tail shaft, a drivenshaft, a power-operated fluid torque converter having impeller, reactionand driven members, said driven member being fixed to the driven shaft,an abutment sleeve, a one-way coupling for connecting the sleeve withthe reaction member, epicyclic gearing connected withthe driven shaft,the tail shaft and the reaction sleeve, abutment means operable to holdor release the sleeve, and

means including a clutch operable to lock the sleeve and the impellermember to rotate to--' gether.

3. A variable speed drive mechanism comprising a tail shaft, a drivenshaft, 9. power-operated fluid torque converter having impeller,reaction and driven members, said driven member being fixed to thedriven shaft, an abutment sleeve, a one-way coupling for connecting thesleeve with the reaction member, planetary gearing having a sun gearfixed to the driven shaft and a pinion carrier in driving relation withthe tail shaft and fixed to the abutment sleeve, abutment pling forconnecting the sleeve and reaction member together, planetary gearinghaving a sun gear fixed to the driven shaft and a pinion car rier-indriving relation with the tail shaft and fixed to the sleeve, anabutment'drum fixed to. 1 the carrier, means operable to hold or releasethe drum, a sleeve fixed to rotate with the impeller member. and aclutch for drivingly connecting the sleeve fixed to the impeller memberwith the 5. A variable speed driv mechanism comprising a driven shaft, atail shaft, a power-operated fluid torque converter having impeller,reaction and driven members, said driven member being fixed to thedriven shaft, a sleeve on the driven shaft, a one-way coupling forconnecting the sleeve and the reaction member, planetary gearing havinga sun gear fixed to the driven shaft and. a pinion carrier in drivingrelation with the tail shaft and fixed to the sleeve, an abutment drumfixed to the carrier, an anchored brake for holding or releasing saiddrum, a sleeve rotatably mounted on the first mentioned sleeve fixed torotate with the impeller member and projecting into the drum, normallydisengaged clutch plates engaging the drum and the sleeve projectingtherein, and power means operable to engage said clutch plates.

6. A variable speed drive mechanism comprising a tail shaft; a drivenshaft; a power-operated fluid torque converter having impeller, reactionand driven members, said driven member being fixed to the driven shaft;an abutment sleeve; a one-way coupling for connecting the sleeve withthe reaction member; compounded front and rear planetary gear trainshaving sun gears fixed to the driven shaft, ring gears, a forward pinioncarrier fixed to the sleeve, and a rear pinion carrier fixed to the tailshaft and to the ring gear of the forward gear train; means for holdingthe forward carrier; means for holding the forward ring gear; and clutchmeans for connecting the forward carrier with the torqueconverter'impeller member.

'7 A variable speed drive mechanism comprising a tail shaft; a drivenshaft; a power-operated fiuid torque converter having impeller, reactionand driven members, said driven member being fixed to the driven shaft;an abutment sleeve; a one-way coupling for connecting the sleeve withthe reaction member; compounded front and rear planetary gear trainshaving sun gears fixed to gears, a forward pinion the driven shaft, ringcarrier fixed to the sl eve, and a rear pinion carrier fixed to the tailshaft and to thering gear I of the forward gear train; abutment meansfixed to the forward carrier; an anchored brake for holding the abutmentmeans stationary;a clutch operable to directly connect the abutmentmeans with the impeller member; and means operable to hold the forwardring gear stationary.

8. A variable speed drive mechanism comprising a tail shaft; a drivenshaft; a power-operated fluid torque converter having impeller, reactionand driven members, said driven member being fixed to the driven shaft;an abutment sleeve; a

one-way coupling for connecting the sleeve with the reaction member;compounded front and rear planetary gear trains having sun gears fixedto the driven shaft, ring gears, a forward pinion carrier fixed to thesleeve, and a rear pinion carrier fixed to the tail shaft and to thering gear of the forward gear train; a, drum fixed to the forwardcarrier; an anchored brake for holding or releasing said drum; means forholding or releasing said front ring gear: and a power-actuated clutchfor connecting said drum in direct drive relation with the impellermember.

9. A variable speed drive mechanism comprising a tail shaft; a drivenshaft; a power-operated fluid torque converter having impeller, reactionand driven members, said driven member being fixed to the driven shaft;an abutment sleeve; a one-way coupling for connecting the sleeve withthe reaction member; two compounded planetary gear trains shaft, ringgears, a pinion carrier fixed to the sleeve, and another pinion carrierfixed to the tail shaft and to the ring gear of the other gear train;means for holding the forward carrier; means for holding the forwardring-gear; and means for fixing the forward carrier to rotate with theimpeller member, the drive passing partially through the forward carrierfrom the impeller member and partially through the driven shaft from thedriven member to the planetary gearing when the forward carrier is fixedto rotate with the impeller member and the holding means are released.

having sun gears fixed to the driven 10. a variable speed drivenmechanism comprising a casing; a tail shaft; a driven shaft; apower-operated fluid torque converter having impeller, reaction anddriven members, said driven member being fixed to the driven shaft; onabutment sleeve; a one-way coupling for connecting the sleeve with thereaction member;

- one at a time; and means for establishing a direct drive connectionbetween the forward carrier and the impeller member, said lastmentioned,

means being effective when the holding means are released.

FOREST R. MCF'ARLAND.

